The Year Gone By
by Elwen of Lorien
Summary: A year can bring many things. Theoden notices a few. Oneshot.


This goes along with my other stories, and although they are all stand alone, I am following the same timelines and guidelines for them all. Thanks for reading.

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It had been a good year. The herds were expanding, even with the increasing frequency in the raids from the orcs and Dunlendings. The sicknesses that were usually rampant this time of year were not so and his people were healthy. And even with the crops only half harvested, it was turning out to be one of the best in recent memory. Yes, it had been a good year.

The sound of laughter made him turn his back to the rolling vista of the Riddermark, and instead turn to see something that at one time he did not think he would ever see again; his niece and nephew laughing. The year before had taken both their parents from them, and it had taken months before Eowyn would leave her brothers' side, even refusing to sleep in a separate room. Eomer had handled things differently. Whereas before he had been open and carefree, he became more reserved and it was hard to get close to him.

They had not been the only ones to lose loved ones. Theodwyn, who had always been close with him, had become his best friend following the death of his wife. Although she was the youngest of his sisters and only fifteen at the time, she had helped raise his son in place of a mother. And living with him in Meduseld until she married Eomund at six and twenty, they had continued to grow close. Even Eomund had been more than just Chief Marshal. During their fourteen year marriage, Eomund had become like a brother to him.

Theodred had looked up to Theodwyn almost as a mother, and having never known his own, he lost the closest thing he ever had to one, and that had hit him hard. While the knowledge was always there, Theodred had not had to go through the pain of losing Elfhild when she died, and he was glad of that. But with the death of Theodwyn, all those feelings were brought to the surface, and Theodred's pain was almost that of his cousins'.

The people of Rohan also mourned. Theodwyn had been a most beloved Princess, who never shunned getting dirty when helping her people. She never cared about social distinctions, unlike the other women of the court, and even her own sisters. Theodwyn made a purpose to talk with everyone and know of their lives, and eventually people stopped treating her as a Princess and one of themselves, and she basked in that.

After their deaths, the first few months had been rough, especially for Eowyn and Eomer; moving to a new place where the people were different and privacy was a luxury that was almost impossible to come by. The men and women of the court could be ruthless at times, and while they mourned and sympathized with the children, any opportunity to advance their own was never passed up. Their children were seen around the Hall more than was common, trying to get close the children who were so close to the King in blood. This just caused them to refrain from going to any public gatherings.

But eventually, everyone began to heal. As time went by, the pain began to loosen its stranglehold on the children, and they began to smile for the first time since coming to live with him. Eowyn had even agreed to go on a ride with Theodred while Eomer was practicing with his weapons, which he had taken up with a vengeance. Although it worried him that Eomer had so much anger in him, he knew that there was a reason for it, and as Eomer grew, it would dissipate as he came to be more in control of his emotions.

Eventually, the sound of laughter was heard again in the Hall, and what was most important was that it was coming from the children. Now looking at them, Théoden was proud of how far they had come. And although he had always felt love for them, over the last year that love had began to grow. Now he felt as though he were the father of three. Where Theodwyn stepped in to be the mother when his child needed one, he would have to be the father when hers did not have either.

Looking back over the year at all the things that had changed, he could say that it had been a good year. Both for his people and for those that he held dear.

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I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. I have a week off from school, so I have had the time to write, which I love, since writing is my favorite thing to do. 


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